Features

Tickets on Sale Now for A Night Like No Other

August 21, 2013

Tickets are now on sale for Metro Wellness and Community Centers’ Inaugural Tampa Bay Gala. This year marks the organization’s 20^th anniversary and plans are well underway to create “a night like no other” to celebrate this milestone…

Tickets on Sale Now for A Night Like No Other

The event presented by Mail-Meds Clinical Pharmacy will take place at the Tampa Garden Club on Saturday, September 14, 2013 as part of a weeklong celebration that also marks the National LGBT Community Center Awareness Day. Throughout the week, Metro locations in Tampa and St. Petersburg will host open-house events for area neighborhoods including Historic Kenwood and Central Oak Park in St. Petersburg and Historic Ybor City in Tampa. On Friday night, comic Karen Williams will have a pre-Gala performance at the St. Pete Center, located at 3251 3^rd Avenue North in St. Petersburg. Tickets are $20.

Saturday night is the big night as special guests from throughout the community look back and celebrate the work that Metro Wellness and Community Centers has done throughout the community. Metro was founded as Metropolitan Charities by King of Peace MCC in 1993. What started as an effort to assist those suffering from HIV/AIDS in Pinellas County has grown into a thriving beacon of service and education to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS serving four counties. In addition, through its Community Centers in Ybor City, St. Petersburg and New Port Richey – Metro is now a hub of activity for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community with health and wellness programs, education, social activities and special events to help improve the quality of life for those in the Tampa Bay area. Today the organization serves nearly 9,500 people each year, with an outreach to many more. The organization’s programs and services continue to expand and reach people across the state of Florida.

The Tampa Bay Gala is on Saturday, September 14, 2013 from 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. at the Tampa Bay Garden Club, 2629 Bayshore Blvd., Tampa. Metro has an exciting evening planned with cocktails, elegant edibles, live entertainment and special guests, including Williams, an award-winning comic; Jack Mackenroth, model, Project Runway star and HIV activist; and US Representative Kathy Castor.

Curve Magazine calls Karen Williams “a laugh riot!” She delights fan-filled audiences from San Francisco to South Beach to Sydney and now makes her way to the Tampa Bay area. Williams is a featured comic in “We’re Funny That Way,” the internationally-acclaimed film shown regularly on HBO, is host of the New York variety show, “In the Life”, and her humor writings appear in numerous anthologies. Williams has worked with numerous HIV/AIDS charities and uses her celebrity status to raise awareness and to work for social justice using humor and healing.

Mackenroth is most known for his appearance on Project Runway Season 4, but has also been a professional designer, nationally recognized competitive swimmer and fitness and fashion model for years. He has appeared in numerous magazines including a cover story feature in the May/June 2013 issue of HIV Plus Magazine. Mackenroth has always been very open about his positive HIV status. Since his diagnosis in 1990, he has tried to combat the stigma of HIV by living honestly and being a role model through professional and athletic achievements.

Tickets are available for all events at www.MetroTampaBay.org, by calling 727-321-3854 or at the St. Petersburg Center. Gala tickets are $100. Additional sponsorships are also available. For more information email Kathie Michael at KathieM@metrotampabay.org.